Radium and a key moment in the history of health and safety at work
Radium was the radioactive element discovered in Paris by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898, just before Christmas. Publication was almost immediate. Within a week, they announced their find to the French Academy of Sciences and in the 6 January 1899 edition of the London-based Chemical News announced “a new element to which we propose to give the name of radium”. This originates from the Latin word radius for ray, indicating the energy which would be emitted as rays. For Marie Curie her discovery of radium resulted in her being the first person awarded a second Nobel Prize in 1911.
An early uses of radium was in luminous paints. Radium Corporation supplied watches with paint on the dials to the US army. This became a landmark case for health and safety at work. Although the company had informed the medical community that radium generated “injurious effects” it allowed some 4,000 workers to work on a piece-work rate, painting watches with radium. Almost all of them were women. Because the brushes lost their shape so quickly, the company gave them tips on using their tongues to keep the brushes sharp.
This resulted in the women having anemia, bone fractures and jaw necrosis. Five of them actually sued and won a settlement which included a cash sum, an annuity, legal and medical expenses. The Radium Girls as they were known established a precedent of employees being able to sue their employer due to unsafe working conditions.
It was clear that radium was a double-edged sword, with advantages and disadvantages. This was summed up by an article in the Daily Mail in September 1903. “Radium with its apparent power of emitting heat for ever without diminution, has opened the door to something like a new world of science”.
It is exactly this world that Word of the Day will be examining over the next few days with words such as radioactive, curie, Becquerel and atomic bomb.
Did you like the article? Then please like and share it on Facebook, tweet it on Twitter or add it in Google+.
